《Elm's Horizon》 Prologue - Gate, ON - - - - It is currently the Year 21XX on a certain planet called Earth. It is a marvelous planet, exceptionally able to sustain life, and had already housed life for thousands upon thousands of millenniums. Different kinds of species had come and go during its period of being, but the species it would be known for its current housing would ultimately be known as "Homo Sapiens", or more commonly known as "Humans". These people were at the apex of the predatory chain, with a more highly evolved brain than anything else on the surface of the planet. As people evolved, colonies came into being. Soon, towns emerged. Then cities. People of similar races and identities flocked together. However, things changed. Leaders came into power, and arguments happened for reasons only God knows what. With the evolved version of weapons, it came with armies. And with armies, came destruction. Then the First World War happened. A huge loss of life, however, the people of Earth didn''t learn. Then came the Second World War. Another genocide. Within the span of less than a century, millions of people had died, becoming a part of history. Since those times, people have slowly progressed forward, forgetting the painful memories of the past. With the advancement of technology, also came the emergence of Virtual Reality, there came multitudes of possibilities. First came the idea of a new economy, within a new world, its markets could be explored and more people would have a way to make money. But for this new generation, it meant only but one thing. GAMES, GAMES, and GAMES! Long have people dreamed of being able to roam an expansive world with their own bodies, Long have they dreamed of seizing their own future with their own hands, Long have the people romanticized of magic, steel, and ADVENTURE. Now, with technology at their disposal, a company named Sakkaku Inc. from Japan managed to create the ultimate virtual reality game. It required you to purchase a console as well as a helmet-based like gaming system which required you to slip it over your head. Once plugged and logged in, you would be thrown into the virtual world. Now, all these hardware were not cheap. It''s costs, not to mention the existence of a monthly subscription fee, could be said to be almost astronomical for the average public''s taste. It was the equivalent of buying a luxury item, such as a camera, or a massage chair. You also had to subscribe to their personal internet network in order to ensure smooth playing conditions. Even with all these conditions, it was still a highly anticipated game, and within just a month of it''s release, it had already garnered a player base of over 300,000 worldwide. *** "..and that concludes our class for today. Please turn in the homework I have just distributed next week, class. Enjoy your weekend!" the voice said, with a hint of sarcasm at the end. The entire class groaned, their teacher had just unloaded a bunch of homework onto them to do over the weekend. That meant doing the homework. Doing the homework meant less time. Less time meant less fun. A young man dressed in the school''s signature uniform was sitting in the middle of the class and he sighed when numerous moans of dissatisfaction murmured among his friends. He walked over towards their seats and standing with both his hands folded, stood beside their table. "Evaaans." One of his friends wailed upon seeing him. The young man that had just walked over to his friends was named Evans S. Jr. The young man was 17 years of age and he was just slightly above five feet and nine inches tall. He had black, disheveled hair and hazel brown eyes. He had light, yet tanned skin that bordered on the line of white and brown. He was also the tallest in his class, yet Evans didn''t really look that imposing while standing directly next to his friends. It was probably due to his thin and lean build as Evans didn''t really work out, nor did he really bother about eating properly. Evans would also be what society called, a "geek". Though he still was pretty good looking for a geek. "Milly, if you moan any louder than that, you''re going to be turning heads." Evans said with a snicker. "I can''t help iiiiitttttt." said the voice that belonged to the girl named Milly. "And can you not, that''s disgusting!" she added with a disapproving tone when she realized what Evans actually meant. The girl named Milly, was sitting with a cross-legged position on her chair, she had her face in a pout as she talked to Evans. Milly''s real name wasn''t actually Milly, it was a nickname Evans made up for her, as her real name was a mouthful. Millenois A. Summers. With long and dark brown hair that hugged her shoulders, and with similar hazel brown eyes like Evans. She had a somewhat pale complexion, with hints of pink that showed here and there. In response to Milly''s blunder, a cheerful laugh could be heard coming from another boy beside her. "You''re cute for someone with your size Milly." The boy teased. Milly''s face contorted at the boy''s comment and shook her fist in anger. "I''M FIVE FEET AND FOUR INCHES OF AMAZING, OKAY?!" she almost screamed at the boy sitting next to her. "Yeah? Five feet and four inches of anger too, if I might add." The boy snickered again. The boy''s name was Cory J. Linhof. Both of them were Evans''s trusted friends, and they had stuck with each other throughout their high school period. Unlike Evans, Cory had light brown and curly hair. He was only slightly shorter than Evans, but Cory seemed to be bigger than Evans. His muscles that he trained showed clearly through his school shirt, and whenever he flexed, his shirt would become taut. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. "Well, forget about that. Hey Evans, are you gonna go buy GateArk after class so we can finally play Horizon together this weekend?" Milly nonchalantly asked. GateArk was the name of the machine that Sakkaku Inc. developed in order to access the virtual reality world, most people also shortened the full name of Reach Your Horizon to just Horizon, just to make things easier. Cory nodded enthusiastically at what Milly said, both of them had already started playing Horizon about a week after it was released and had been waiting for a few weeks for Evans to join them in-game. Since both of them came from well to do families, it was pretty easy for them to acquire it. However.. "I don''t know guys, I really do want to play, but you know my family''s.. circumstances." Evans replied with a pause in the middle and then continued. "I really can''t afford it." Evans looked down and his facial expression showed sadness, as his family was already struggling to even provide for his education, it really couldn''t be helped. In today''s society, money pretty much ruled, and with money you could do anything you want. Evans understood the pains of his parents, that did their best to put food on the table. Milly looked at Cory and grinned. There was a mischievous sparkle in both their eyes, there was something they knew that Evans didn''t. Putting on an obvious facade, Milly and Cory both shrugged and started packing their bags to leave. "I would do anything to play with you guys really.." Evans said meekly. "I could get a part time job during school break maybe?" Holding their school bags, Milly and Corry stood up from their seats, still having the same mischievous sparkle in their eyes. "Well it can''t be helped." both of them said together. *** Evans gasped. He couldn''t believe his eyes as he stared at the helmet-like object within the opened box. His parents gazed at him from his room door affectionately. "Happy Birthday Evans!" they both said in unison. "My birthday?" He quizzically said. "Oh right. It''s already that time of the year isn''t it." It wasn''t as if Evans had forgotten his birthday, he remembers it very well. Just that he wasn''t used to celebrating his birthday as he didn''t see a point to it, his friends, understanding as they were, didn''t question him about it. "There''s a note inside too, make sure you read it before you start playing." His mom affectionately said. "Thanks mom, but how..?" His heart was aching, he knew that the machine cost a bomb, yet his parents still got it for him. "Don''t worry about it, just read the note inside, okay?" His mum enthusiastically chimed. His father grinned, it made him happy to see his hardworking and filial son tremble with excitement as his unpacked the box. It had been ages since they got him anything for his birthday. As they were turning to leave his mum gave one last wink at Evans before closing the room door shut. His hands were still shaking as he stood there gawking at the helmet he held in his hands. It was an GateArk. The machine created by Sakkaku Inc. It was real. He was holding it. The moment he held the helmet seemed like eternity that he almost forgot the note. He trembled as he opened the note. Hehehe, are you happy Evans? Cory and I pooled our money together to help get you this. Don''t worry, we helped you get the machine at a a much cheaper price through my dad''s connections. Your parents bought the machine while we took care of the monthly subscription payment for you. With this you''ll be able to play for 6 months! You''ve been such a good friend to us that we just wanted to repay the favor. That feeling between me and Cory is mutual. When you get in-game, maybe you could send us a PM? We''ll be at one of the Beginner cities, called Viajecamino waiting for you alright? My username is Mae while Cory''s is Braveheart. Let''s go adventuring! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! After he finished reading the note, Evans smiled warmly. "They really are such good friends." Those two had been through good times and bad times with him. Even now, just before they were going to graduate and most likely going separate paths. They had still wanted to give him a present. Truly, he felt lucky from the bottom of his heart for possessing such friends. "Now I gotta go meet them in-game!" he said while gripping the helmet tightly. His body was almost a blur as he hurriedly began setting up his game system, eager to dive into a new world. As he finally finished setting it up, he sighed with a breath of satisfaction. Then, lying down on his bed, whilst staring up at his ceiling, he put on his helmet, and turned on the machine. "Gate, ON!"
Main PageChapter 1 - Viajecamino
Chapter 1 - Viajecamino The whirring of the device''s internal wheels turned, and suddenly, white light washed over his vision. He immediately closed his eyes and with baited breath, Evans waited for something to happen. As he noticed the light slowly die down, he noticed a cheerful voice chiming in the background. He slowly opened his eyes and found himself in a white room.
Welcome to Reach Your Horizon! As this appears to be your first time logging in to the game, please follow the necessary registration procedures.
A hologram with the size of the computer screen materialized in-front of Evans, as well as a keyboard. On the screen, he could see details of his personal information that he needed to fill out, such as his name, job, billing address, and etc. After filling in all the necessary information, he hit the Submit button.
- Please wait while we verify your information.
As Evans waited, he explored the white room he was in. It wasn''t a very big room, and it didn''t have anything in it. Evans only wanted to test out how moving was like while in the virtual world. As he walked along the wall of the white room, he stretched out his fingers to touch the wall. "Woah.. I can touch the walls, and I can feel how solid it is." he excitingly murmured. He heard a bell sound and thinking that his registration had already been verified, he walked back to the computer console. With a verification message written on the console, Evans hit the Next arrow button. In response to that, another information window appeared in exchange of the previous.
Do be cautious while deciding your character''s appearance, or any information as each account is only allowed to have one character. Once the character is created, you will not be allowed to delete or alter anything on your character. Please decide your character name.
"Now, what would be a good name?" he silently thought to himself. Evans mentally brought out a list in his mind over what names he would choose. ***
- This name is already taken! Please try another name.
"Damn it!" Evans cursed out loud. He couldn''t believe it, he had already spent a solid hour in the game just trying to find a good name. It wasn''t that he was picky, but all the names that he had thought of were already taken. He sort of expected that this would happen, as R.Y.H was a game that had thousands upon thousands of players, but to think that even his secret fail-safe name, "xXxMagiaxXx" was taken, this game definitely wasn''t normal. "I guess it''s time to step up my game.. Darn, I should have started playing earlier." He said as he scratched his head. "I just hope Milly and Cory aren''t waiting for me right now.." After that he tried out another bunch of random names until he finally, he keyed in a name and a window appeared
- You have selected, "Elm" as your character name. Would you like to confirm your entry?
"Yes!" Evans excitingly shouted.
- Confirmed, now please choose your Race. You may choose between Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Beasts, Halflings, or Orcs.
Soon after, six versions of Evans appeared in-front of him in the different forms of races. All of them were clothed in leather, and had a blank expression on their faces. "Wow.." he murmured. Firstly, he looked at the Elvish-version of himself, he looked much younger and had fairer skin. He also had the trademark pointy Elf ears instead of the normal human ones. Secondly, he stared at the wolf-like humanoid beside the Elf version. This was the Beast type, it was possible to change which animal you wanted to play in, and from what he had heard about the Beast types was that you could choose the type of animal you wanted to look like. Evans had no desire to look like a fur ball so he quickly skipped the Beast type. Next, he looked at the Dwarven version of himself and the Halfling version. A little more than half his size, both were pretty similar except Evans sported a macho beard on his Dwarven self, and he was also more stocky compared to the Halfling. The Halfling had a more cunning look to his face, that seemed like he was ready to go gallivanting into a random Dragon''s treasure hoard. Oh, yes. There were dragons in this world. Evans made a mental note to go fight one as soon as he was capable of doing so. Finally, he looked at the Orcish-version of himself. He looked like a brute, his skin was an eerie green, he had pointed teeth jutting out of the sides of his mouth. His body size was slightly taller, but the main point were the bulging muscles that the Orc version of him had. Evans held a hand to his chin, and stroking it like he was deep in thought, he said, "I really have to start working out sometime soon." He decided against choosing an Orc however, and dismissed the idea in his head. Finally, he looked at the Human version of himself. It was exactly alike Evans, it retained all his features. It seemed so surreal looking at himself in leather clothes, it was like looking at a past reincarnation of himself from an older era. It seemed to be the selling point, because it was only shortly after admiring himself in Human form that he immediately confirmed his choice. "I''ll go with Human." he said. Evans had a choice to alter his appearance, however he chose to refrain from doing so. Mainly because he thought it was a hassle, and it would be more fun to play with his original appearance anyway. There were no limitations to what each race could become, however certain races had higher numbers in a particular stat when starting out, and how far they could grow depended on what class the player selected and the choices they made in-game.
- Confirmed, you may now select your starting location from any one of the three beginning cities.
He looked at the window, and it showed three of the cities. When he selected the one he was looking for, it''s information appeared.
- Viajecamino, a beautiful castletown surrounded by lakes and luscious landscapes. Many experienced adventurers hail from this place, and it is located in the kingdom of Beaupay. Would you like to begin from this town?
"Yes."
[b]-Confirmed. Would you like to begin by starting on the tutorial?
Evans snickered. Looks like the game still had some minor glitches. It couldn''t be helped. After all, it was only a month old. There would be plenty of opportunities to make it grow even further, it was already really amazing anyway. "No." "Confirmed. You will now be transported to the town of Viajecamino! Welcome to the world of Horizon!" the voice chimed. Evans closed his eyes with his hands as the room he was in was suddenly engulfed in light. Suddenly, he could hear sounds of water flowing from a fountain, and the hustle and bustle of a market going about. There were people talking and shouting all around him, and he finally opened his eyes. "No way." Evans bewilderingly said. He had seen a picture of Viajecamino when Cory showed him while talking about Horizon, but he didn''t know that it would be as amazing as this. Evans had been transported to Viajecamino''s square which was located in the middle of the city. There was a small medieval fountain carved from stone right in the middle of the square which was where he was next to. All around him there were NPCs or Players running around. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. "This is unreal." he moved his feet, trying to grasp the truth that this was undeniably the greatest thing that mankind had ever created. With his hands, he touched his leather clothing. It felt smooth, and comfortable to be in. "It''s.. soft." He looked at the sky that was shining brightly down upon him, and with a deep breath, he breathed in his surroundings. There were houses and buildings all around him in the castletown, all in a similar style. The buildings were mostly constructed by red bricks which he guessed would be to give the town a sense of familiarity. The castletown had a very Roman-era feel to it. Long story short, he felt like he was transported back in time. "...Evans?" a familiar voice behind him suddenly said with a gruff. Spinning around expectantly, Evans stared at the bear that had called his name. The bear stood at around Evans height, with brown fur all over. There was a scar on it''s left eye, and he had similar facial features to a person that Evans knew. The bear was completely decked out in equipment, minus the helmet. He wore a dazzlingly golden ring mail that was plated around the chest area, and it had mesh on the lower half that covered the bear''s waist. The bear had a belt-like object that was strapped around it''s waist that seemed to hold everything together. It also had a broadsword strapped on its back. It could only be one guy. "...Cory?" Evans muttered slowly. "Yup, that''s me!" Cory said, while beaming at Evans. It was pretty creepy, to have a brown bear smile at you, Evans thought. "You made it Evans!" another familiar voice behind the bear shouted. "Move you big oaf!" An elf ran out from behind of Cory, tackling straight into Evans chest and gave him a big hug. "Hahahah, Milly?!" Evans surprisingly exclaimed as he held her, trying to shove her off. It was Milly, and she had chosen the Elf race. She looked even more beautiful than she did in real life, and in Horizon, her elf character was a stunning blonde with epic proportions that could charm even a devout monk. She too, had a weapon strapped to her back. It was a wooden bow, accompanied by a quiver. "You sure took awhile Evans." Cory grinned again, sending a chill down Evans spine. Definitely creepy seeing a bear smile. "YEAH. We waited FOREVER!" Milly said, almost screaming. Then she looked at Cory and gave him a grin. Evans looked at Cory and Milly. "I''m sorry guys, thinking of a nam-" he started to say when he was suddenly interrupted by a cheer from both Cory and Milly. "HAPPY 17TH BIRTHDAY EVANS!" "Hahahaha!" Evans laughed and smiled broadly while remembering the note they gave him, along with the GateArk. "Thank you so much for the present guys. I''ll be sure to pay you guys back." "You don''t have to! It''s a present from both of us!" both of them smiled back. "So what were you doing? We waited for you for more than an hour.." "...I''ll tell you." *** "Okay.. so, Character Info?" Evans inquiringly said. A sound that sounded like a scroll unrolling played and a window appeared in front of Evans. Using his hands, he could scroll up or down the window in a waving like motion.
Character Info
Name:ElmAllignmentNeutral
Level:1Class:None
Race:HumanGender:Male
Fame
-
Titles
-
Health:100/100Mana100/100
Strength15Dexterity15
Intelligence10Wisdom10
Vitality10Luck10
Equipment Info
Attack7-9Defence3
Other information will not be accessible until they are unlocked.
"Wow! It appeared!" Evans exclaimed. Cory and Milly grinned. They thought Evans had gone through the tutorial, which was why it took him so long to finally begin playing. So they didn''t mind waiting. Who knew he actually took nearly two hours just to create his character... "You can check your skills, as well as your inventory more or less the same way too." Cory said. "There''s something here that says other information won''t be accessible until unlocked? What''s up with that?" Evans asked, puzzled. "Well, you''ve only just started the game. You have to do a bunch of quests in the city to unlock all the other information." Cory explained. "Oh, and you''re not allowed to leave the castle''s area until you hit Level 20 and get your first class." "My first class.." Evans wondered out aloud. He''d always wanted to be a mage. In his opinion, a mage''s power was absolute. They could dominate large-scale battles and by casting a powerful spell, they could even turn the tides of the battle instantly. "What level are you guys?" Evans asked his friends. "I''m level 22 while Milly is level 21." Cory replied. "Hehe, we leveled up pretty slowly because there''s so much other stuff to do than just grinding your levels in this game." He said shyly. "Yeah! There''s so many fun quests to do and things to see." Milly continued excitedly. "So have you guys changed your classes yet?" Evans asked. "I''m a Warrior while Milly is an Archer." "Wow.." Evans muttered in amazement. "Milly sucks at aiming though. Remember when we played Shoot the Can?" Cory and Evans both laughed, and Milly pouted and sulked while muttering something under her breath. All of a sudden, as if remembering something, Milly puffed out her chest proudly and said. "You two, don''t call me Milly anymore! My name here is Mae!" Cory stopped laughing, sighed and gave a helpless shrug. "Nice to meet you, I''m Braveheart." he said as he solemnly offered his hand to Evans to shake. Evans could only smile, he knew it would be better to call each other by their respective aliases, only in this game anyway. It wouldn''t be fun if their privacy was compromised now, would it. He nodded, shook Cory''s hand and replied in return, "I''m Elm." Likewise, he did the same introduction with Milly. As he shook Cory''s and then Milly''s hands, two windows popped up.
Player "Braveheart" has sent you a friend request.
Player "Mae" has sent you a friend request.
"Accept." he said with a smile. Finally, they could start their adventure together in Horizon. Or so he thought.
Main PageChapter 2 - Horizon
Chapter 2 - Horizon A/N: "Hey guys, the main plot won''t come into play just yet as I want to firmly introduce all the characters/ and some more information about the world of Horizon. If you''re following Elm''s Horizon, just wanted to let you guys know the updates may not come so fast, as I have tons to do this month. Since I''ve just started out I do appreciate any comments that could help better my writing style, thanks for reading my fantasy so far!" *** The sound of plates being set down could be heard. The grumbling of tummies, and the flowing of fresh drool could be seen as clear as daylight. The place the trio were currently in was a hive of activity, especially at this particular hour. Dinner time. Elm suppressed his grumbling stomach as he looked at the carefully laid food in front of him. After placing the last dish they ordered, the Elven waitress Braveheart had been secretly eyeing from the tavern gave him a wink, and went off to continue her other duties. "So.. you can actually eat in this game?" he asked, ignoring the subtle flirt the NPC had just used on Braveheart while also trying to hold himself back from gorging on the food in front of him. "Gulp, yeah, some of the things the chefs cook in this game can be so good that it actually raises your stats temporarily.." Braveheart replied with his face red. "They can be expensive though, but me and Mae like coming here because it''s cheap, and good." Sitting in a seat just beside them, Mae was impatiently tapping her feet while listening to their conversation. She couldn''t wait to eat either. "I''m getting more impressed every second." Elm said ruefully. Elm sighed and laid back on his seat. Ignoring the temporary hunger he had, he took in all of the tavern with all his five senses. There were NPC waitresses running around, serving players, shouting out orders. The tavern was dimly lit with old chandeliers lining the ceiling and its interior was framed with wooden walls, yet it seemed to have a relaxing and homey atmosphere. Each table had plates of food and mugs filled with drinks on it. There were players laughing as they jostled each other in good fashion. He then shifted his gaze to the bar. Barrels were stacked carefully on top of each other behind the counter. Most presumably filled with juice. There was alcohol in this game, but those were only available at special bars only allowed for players 18 years and above. Elm smiled, he would be turning 18 in a year, soon he could try that for himself in-game. Just a while ago, after they had just met up. Elm expressed his desire to his friends to learn more about Horizon since he didn''t go through the tutorial. Mae and Braveheart both while laughing, agreed to teach him. They decided that instead of going straight into a monster battle, it was better that they had a briefing session before battles. But just right after deciding that, both of their tummies rumbled. In Horizon, there were satiety levels that you had to keep in check, if it dropped too low, your stats would take a big hit and you would also suffer from abnormal status effects as well. Elm was still a beginner who had just logged into the game so he had a week grace period where his satiety levels wouldn''t fall as fast as Mae and Braveheart. Coming back to reality, he noticed his friends were wolfing down the food they had ordered. Not wanting to miss out on anything, and also following their example of misconduct at the dinner table, he gorged on the food. With every bite, he found himself wanting more, it was weird. The dishes were pretty similar to stuff they had in real life, yet it seemed like it tasted fresher, and had a more whole taste. He let loose, going almost berserk at how good the pot roast tasted. It seemingly melted in his mouth with every bite. He knew that by slowly braising the meat, it could easily be somewhat tender and succulent, however, this was clearly on another level. "Cory, isn''t this extremely good?" Elm suddenly asked. He had forgotten to use their in-game names because he wanted to know the answer to his question. Braveheart grinned. Seeing a bear humanoid smile sure was creepy. "You know how they said crops and animals used to be grown outside? It''s that." he replied nonchalantly. Mae who had begin to slow down from eating so much food nodded in agreement. "You mean about a hundred years ago, when Earth still grew natural crops?" "That''s right, they''re doing the same thing here. All of the food ingredients in this game are natural!" Elm hung his head in wonder. He hadn''t seen the farms in Viajecamino as he hadn''t ventured out of the town area just yet, which was why he didn''t know about this, or even asked. Mae laughed at Elm''s reaction. She had the exact same look on her face when she found out that food in this game were all naturally grown. You could even find spices, herbs and natural ingredients all growing out in the wild. In the real world, food wasn''t like it used to be a hundred years ago. There just wasn''t enough space where people could live, so what could they do? They removed the farms, removed the plantations. And moved production of crops and animals into specially created facilities underground that could sustain life. Sure, there were protests on rights of animals and stuff, but the populace that complained were silenced immediately when they were asked this question. "So would you give up your residence area in exchange for the quarters for these helpless animals?" Humanity had come a long way since the prehistoric days, but the main instinct that remained the same had stayed. Self preservation. "It''s amazing how the devs of this game thought of that too though." "I think there was an interview posted on Facebook that the developer truly wanted this whole world to be different from real life." "...is that so." Elm made a mental note to checkout the videos later. Braveheart, after finishing his food, picked up his cup of juice and while gently turning the cup in his hands stared intently at Elm. "What is it?" Elm asked. "Nothing, I was just thinking about something." Elm gave him a questioning look, and after awhile, shrugged it off. Then while Braveheart was grinning, he continued. "Now that we''re done eating, how about we start your tutorial right now?" Elm nodded in response. "Okay, so for starters, what time do you think it is in the real world?" "...We''ve probably been in-game for about an hour? Giving it some thought, Elm came to conclusion it had been about an hour since he logged in. He was off the mark. "Wrong. It''s only been about 15 minutes." Braveheart replied with Mae nodding alongside him. "What?!" Elm exclaimed in surprise. "Yeah. Time.. moves slower here. About 4 times slower than in real life. The mechanics work.. sort of how like when we are dreaming. There''s a clock on the top right corner of your vision, can you see it?" Elm squinted, he did see something there but he disregarded it as it was really small. Numbers formed in his head as he focused on the lettering. "...it''s 6:20pm?" "Yup, you got it." Horizon was a world that operated on its own. It was exactly like the real world but it had its own rules. Players had unlimited freedom, so long as it was within the rulebook of Horizon. Attacking or killing NPCs would constitute as an offense against the system, and you would be placed on the kingdom''s wanted list, and your Alignment would turn Evil. However, unlike other games, once an NPC was killed, it would cease to exist. It was as if the NPCs were actual people. You weren''t allowed to fight in towns either, unless during a competition or an event that was hosted by the NPCs themselves. In short, this world''s rulebook was pretty much written by the NPCs. In games before Horizon appeared, NPCs were known as Non-player characters, which meant they didn''t have a conscience. But here, every NPC had their own name, and had their own thinking. Relationships could be built with them, and with a higher level of intimacy, there was a possibility of the player receiving quests from them. Which is why it was usually against a player''s desire to kill an NPC as it meant the loss of a potential quest. The same went for the higher level bosses in dungeons or fields, usually they had their own conscience and purpose and the activities and what they did would affect how the game would turn out. If a boss monster was planning an invasion of a town, the town would then call for arms from the players to help out. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. "So that''s pretty much how this world works." "I see.." "HEY! I''m bored! It''s my turn to explain, okay?" Mae suddenly spoke up. She had been quiet the whole time, and didn''t really say much. Braveheart shrugged and motioned her to continue the conversation. "Right. So you know that you started in Viajecamino right?" Mae started to say with her eyes sparkling. Elm nodded. He knew Milly would be too impatient and wouldn''t be able to wait, that was how she is. As Mae begun her explanation, she told Elm that there were many other towns just like Viajecamino in this world. Since this game wasn''t very new, most of the towns in the game were still developing. However, given time, they would eventually turn out to be a kingdom like Beaupay, like the one they were in. "There are currently four big kingdoms, which have been around since the game started. The Human Kingdom of Beaupay, The Elven Forest of Erynhuine, The Dwarven Mountain of Casardin, and lastly, the Orcish Plains of Urucai. In Horizon, all the races had a mutual relationship, that meant you could begin at any city that you wanted. However, Orcs had it different. Since their race were of the more battle-hungry type, they were alienated by most NPCs, and it was tough to build a relationship with them if you were an Orc. Therefore it would be better to begin in an Orc village instead. There were also certain areas that were bias in allowing a specific race in. To begin with, only Elves could enter into the forest of Erynhuin without the need to improve intimacy with the related NPCs, same went with the Dwarves, who were very secretive with their craftsmanship. "Why don''t the Halflings and Beast people have any of their own kingdoms?" "According to the tutorial, Halflings were more known to be thieves or shrewd merchants so they don''t have a specific town or village where they could gather at to form a kingdom. They might have a town somewhere in this world but no one has actually discovered one yet, and it''s almost the same case for the Beast people as they tend to keep to themselves." "I see." Elm nodded. So the kingdom he started in was the Human kingdom. He definitely wanted to go visit the other kingdoms if he could. They spent another hour just talking about random things and messing about while laughing. Mae and Elm both teased Braveheart when they saw him still eyeing the waitress from earlier. "Ah, what do I have to do if I want to change my profession in to the Mage class?" "You could ask for details at the Mage guild in town, they''ll set you up pretty quickly." "Yeah, how about we go kill some monsters now? We''re done eating anyway." The three of them got up from their seats, and Braveheart left a eight silver coins on the table. Payment was generally done in coins. With gold being the most valuable, and bronze being the cheapest. It took 100 bronze coins to change it into 1 silver, and a 100 silver coins to change it into 1 gold. The meal they just had probably wasn''t cheap, even if they said it was. Being a chef seemed like a lucrative business to be in, so Elm definitely wanted to learn the cooking skill if possible. Braveheart winked at the waitress that served them earlier and Elm saw her pocket a silver from what his friend had just left on the table. "So they have tipping in this game too?" he thought. "Oh crap. I almost forgot!" Mae suddenly screamed as they were just walking out the door of the tavern. Both Braveheart and Elm turned around and stared absently at her. Mae being all panicky wasn''t something new to them. "I have a dinner with my parents! Yours too Cory!" "Damn it, you''re right. Sorry Evans, we gotta go." Braveheart grinned sheepishly while scratching his head as he realized it. Elm nodded in response. "Don''t worry guys, I''ll be fine on my own.." and he made a sad face with a pout. "C''mon, I just paid for your meal." "Just kidding, go ahead, I''ll explore around on my own." Evans smiled. He didn''t really mind, at least he didn''t have to hold his friends back in the meantime. Both Cory and Milly''s parents pretty much worked together, so they had to spend time together a lot. "I''ll see you online tomorrow, okay?" "Yeah, Elm! See you tomorrow!" Braveheart and Mae said that together, then giving each other another look they said once again. "Happy Birthday Evans!" All three of them grinned at the same time, while giving each other a pat on the back. Then they logged out, leaving Elm behind. Two small windows appeared in front of him.
Player ''Mae'' has logged out.
Player ''Braveheart'' has logged out.
Now that he was finally alone in this world, Evans sucked in the cool breeze. The sun had already set, and Viajecamino''s night life was slowly starting to appear. "Guess I should go get some grub in real before I continue playing.. eating in this game doesn''t make me full in real life, right?" And with that, while looking for the disconnect option, he found what he was looking for.
Would you like to logout? Y / N
"Yes."
Main PageChapter 3 - Tutorial
Chapter 3 - Tutorial A/N: EDIT: "This is an improved, re-uploaded version of Chapter 3 as I wanted to structure and reorganize the story. Sorry for any confusion!" *** "Hmm..." Evans sat in his room in front of his brightly lit computer monitor atop a desk. He was looking up information about Horizon, since well, being a newbie, he still had a lot of things he needed to know. He lifted up a piece of fried chicken from a plate just next to the monitor, and started chewing on it. With his free hand, Evans scrolled the wheel on the mouse, scouring the internet world for information he might need. "Best Places to Eat for NEWBIES!" "How Battles work in R.Y.H." "Getting to level 20." "Surviving 101." There was definitely a lot of information that seemed to be aimed at newbies, Evans thought. Currently, he was looking in one of the more popular blogs that a player from Horizon created. This player usually posted helpful information for new players, so it wasn''t long after he created the blog that the traffic to his website increased dramatically. There were tons of new players joining Horizon everyday anyway. so a shortage of new players visiting his website never fell short. "He gets paid to play a game that''s as amazing as this.." Evans sighed. He was jealous. He blinked his eyes at the player''s name, "Bluebird". His blog had thousands of hits every day, which probably raked in at least enough money to pay for the subscription of the game, if not more. "As for me.. after 6 months, I''ll have to start paying for the subscription." Evans winced at the thought of his family having to spend a ton so that he could continue playing. "Maybe in six months, when I''ve gotten pretty far in the game, I could do real money transactions?" In every game Evans played, there were many players that did real money transactions. Basically, players in a game would sell in-game currency or rare items for real cash. Some examples of items that were sold in the past were so rare, you could buy a car in real life with the money it was sold for. However, the companies of the games did not exactly endorse the method, as there were many players who got scammed by using third-party websites. "Oh well.. I guess I''ll cross that road when it comes." he shrugged. He continued scrolling, and looking for more information on the website. When he bit down on the piece of fried chicken he held in his hand, he realized he had already finished it while he was thinking. Setting it back down on the plate, Evans got up from his chair and picked up the plate to go wash it. "Okay! I''ll log in after cleaning the dishes." Evans took a few quick strides out of his room while holding the plate, and it almost seemed like he was going to drop it. *** "I''m back." Elm looked at the mini-clock that had numbers inscribed on it. The sun was already gone, and there were lanterns and lights lit up all around Viajecamino. He was still outside the tavern where he had logged out from, and beside the door, there was a lantern hanging where there was nothing in place before. Peeking through the tavern''s window, Elm saw it was just as busy during dinner time, as adventurers that had worked hard during the day came to the tavern just to relax and have a drink before logging off for the night. "Okay! So it''s around 10:00pm right now? Great! Let''s go finish that tutorial quest." he enthusiastically said. He wanted to complete it and get it out of the way immediately so he could have full access to the game. Typically, Elm would have liked to have skipped it, but it was apparently mandatory for every player to go through the tutorial for some reason. He didn''t really mind though. "Before that.. Equipment menu!" Elm wanted to take a look at what he had equipped, and while making a few swipes with his hand, he brought up the equipment menu.
Beginner''s Leather Garbs
Type:CommonDurability:11 / 11
Quality:Average
A set of leather shirt, pants and shoes for Beginner adventurers. Adds +3 to Defence.
Beginner''s Dagger
Type:CommonDurability:11 / 11
Quality:Average
A dagger for Beginner adventurers. Adds +2 to Attack.
In Horizon, there were many different types of weapons, armor and items. How they were classed however, was according to their Type and Quality. There were six different types of weapons, and were classed according to these six types. Common. Uncommon. Rare. Magical. Legendary. Artifact. According to the blog Elm had read earlier, Common was the most easiest type to find, and almost all monster drops, or equipment that you could find in stores were Common. Usually how rare an item, weapon or armor depicted how strong it was. The higher the rarity, the better the stats. That wasn''t all though, an item''s rarity was also determined by it''s Quality, which fell into six classes as well. Rusty Poor. Average. Polished. Great. Flawless. Usually, for item Types that were Rare and above, they would generally have a Quality of Polished or better, though it was possible for an item''s quality to degenerate from use or having it''s durability go down. That was why equipment maintenance in Horizon was especially important, because you wouldn''t want your armor or weapon to break while you were fighting any monsters, would you? While examining his equipment, Elm murmured. "Well, I guess as a beginner, this will have to do for now." Dismissing the windows with a wave of his hand, he decided to go look for the tutorial NPC, and started walking towards the square''s altar where he was originally summoned into the Horizon from. Supposedly, there should have been a guide NPC standing beside him when he first came, but because Braveheart and Mae were waiting there for him, he didn''t get a chance to meet the NPC. "I wonder if that guy is still there?" he wondered. Well, conventionally thinking, NPCs couldn''t leave their designated spots anyway. "Wait a minute, we took a turn here earlier.. so it should be just down this way?" Elm had to get used to traversing around a city, but he wouldn''t mind getting lost here anyway since this town was beautiful. It looked like how the city Venice, in Italy used to look like, with it''s natural irrigation and water that ran through around the entire castle. The water flowed in from the lake, which was connected to someplace else underground, so there was always fresh water flowing throughout the city. "Yeah, this way and..? Okay! I''m here!" he said when he turned a corner around a building and finally reached the square. He didn''t get a chance to observe the altar when he was transported over earlier, but he could see it was quite intricately designed. The altar was shaped like a globe, in the form of a blue transparent ball, and had gold rings weaving around it. It was at the other end of the square, in front of the fountain he met his friends earlier. When he got closer to the altar, he noticed there were tiny white particles shining inside the globe. "That''s pretty." Elm thought. "Well, I''m here though, so where is the NPC?" he asked himself after taking a look around. There were still other people around in the square, chatting by the benches, or sitting by the fountain. There were players recruiting members for late-night party expeditions outside of the town too. Elm stood by the altar, silently observing the many different players coming and going from the square, it was certainly a sight he didn''t mind getting used to. While he was lost in his thoughts, Elm didn''t notice someone walking up next to him. Tap, tap. He snapped back to reality when he realized someone was tapping his hand, and spun around to look at the person. The first thing he noticed was the stranger''s height. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. "This person''s a dwarf." "Hey boy''o." The dwarf greeted Elm. He immediately responded by looking for a face icon which determined whether a character was a human player or otherwise, Elm noticed that the dwarf did not have an icon on his head. Which meant he was an NPC. He picked up this information from the blog he was scrolling through earlier. "Good evening." Elm replied the greeting with a slight bow of his head. He still didn''t know how to treat NPCs, but he assumed that it was the polite thing to do, by just replying to them normally as he would to a regular person. "You boy''o, you have character!" The dwarf beamed at him, obviously glad that a stranger had greeted him back politely. "As expected of a boy''o whom I had a quest for.. Hmm?" The dwarf quizzically held his beard while tilting his head slightly. "Wait boy''o.. It seems you don''t meet the requirements for my quest after all?" The dwarf sighed while still holding his beard. Elm was getting slightly irritated that the dwarf kept referring to him as boy''o and before he could say anymore, he introduced himself. He would be turning into an adult soon and he didn''t want to be referred to as a boy. "Mr.. Dwarf. Please call me Elm." "Ah, my apologies boy- *cough*, I mean, Elm." the dwarf winced when he noticed Elm''s eyebrow perk up in irritation as he was about to reflexively call him boy''o again. The dwarf slightly bowed his head apologetically and straightening his posture, he introduced himself. "I am Durin of Casardin." With a thump on his chest as he proudly introduced his homeland. "I see." Elm nodded. "You said I didn''t meet your requirements earlier, what did you mean by that?" he asked. "Ay, boy- *cough*, Elm, we residents of Horizon are able to sense, or tell whether an adventurer we come across fits the requirements for a quest we want to send them on." "How does that work?" "I''m not sure, it''s just how it always has been with you adventurers." Durin replied while still stroking his beard. "However, for you it''s not something materialistic, the problem arises from something more innate." "Within me..? I see. It''s probably because I haven''t completed the tutorial." Elm reasoned. NPCs of this world were probably already programmed that way, instead of the usual click and accept quest method used in games of the past. "Tutorial? I don''t know what you mean but perhaps you''ve the need to see Lacus." said Durin. "Lacus? Is he the tutorial NPC?" "I don''t know what you mean by NPC, but every adventurer has to see Lacus. He''s usually by the altar but if he isn''t here, he''s probably in one of the fields at this hour." "I see. Thank you very much for your help Mr. Durin." Elm gave his thanks and a slight bow with his head. "I will go look for Mr. Lacus right now." With this new piece of information he just got, it probably meant that any new adventurers would have a need to go see this "Lacus", who was probably a tutorial NPC. "Aye, boy-o. Once you''ve finished Lacus''s quest, do come look for me!" Durin replied gleefully, already forgetting to call Elm by his name. Elm shrugged and gave up with a sigh, he would probably have to build up a higher intimacy level with Durin if he wanted him to regularly call him by his name. Durin offered his hand to shake with Elm as a sign of good-will, and Elm took it. As he turned to leave, two small notification windows popped up in front of him.
+5 Intimacy with (NPC)Durin. Current relationship status; Acquaintance.
"So just regular talking with an NPC can even raise intimacy?" Elm left the square, while thinking about Durin. "Maybe there''s a chance I could get a good quest from him!" he thought to himself excitedly. According to the blog he looked at, there were many different relationship statuses a player could have with an NPC. It depended on the situation or circumstances that were around a player''s character. To date, there were 9 different relationship statuses discovered you could have with an NPC.
Acquaintance, - This is the status most players would start with, with an NPC.
Stranger, - If a player stops interacting with an NPC for a period of time, eventually their status would revert back to this.
Friend, - If a player interacted with an NPC for a while, by giving gifts or completing quests, they would achieve this.
Close Friend, - Same as the Friend status, achieved by giving gifts or completing quests.
Intimate, - Some players who were curious how far the relationship status could go in Horizon discovered this by accident.
Master, - Usually associated with Class Advancement NPCs.
Hostile, - Trespassing on private NPC areas usually created this status.
Enemy, - By verbally or physically harassing an NPC, this status could be achieved as well.
Nemesis, - Unless the player had done something to deeply offend an NPC, it wasn''t possible to achieve this status.
If you were a player with a Good alignment, naturally, your relationship with an Evil alignment NPC would be worse. If your character was an Orc and if you trespassed into the Elven Forest without having any relationship with the Elvish NPCs beforehand, the Elves would turn into Enemy status against you. Having a better relationship status with an NPC also guaranteed you a quest, and some players who discovered secret relationship statuses with certain NPCs meant that they could have special quests all to themselves. "Well, since this is a Beginner''s town, all the quests have probably been discovered." Elm thought while threading along the town''s stone paved road. After walking a while, he finally reach the exit of the town, and the stone path that he was walking on gradually turned into a dirt path, trailing towards the fields just beyond the walls of the city. He was still in the ''safe-zone'' of Viajecamino, and it extended a little ways more away from the plantations and fields of this area. "Wow.." his gaze was suddenly diverted to something red growing out of the ground in one of the plantations. "Are these tomatoes? They''re pretty huge and bright." He stared at the tomatoes, almost jaw-droopingly, and out of pure curiosity, plucked one of them from the stem. Almost immediately, a window appeared in front of Elm.
- You have stolen a tomato from Lacus.
"Wait, what? I stole a tomato from Lacus?" Elm shouted in alarm when the window suddenly appeared. In shock, he dropped the tomato and it hit the ground with a splat. The tomato shattered into pieces a few moments later and disappeared. "Hey you! Just who do you think you''re stealing from?" a voice suddenly roared while Elm stood there, dazed. "Great.." he muttered to himself, almost cursing.
Main PageChapter 4 - Lacus
Chapter 4 - Lacus "How dare you steal one of my prized tomatoes?" An angry voice said. The voice belonged to an old man who had shouted at Elm previously, and out of shame, Elm hung his head. "I''m sorry.. I wasn''t aware the tomatoes belonged to anybody." he meekly said. "You buffoon of an adventurer! Tomatoes do not just grow out of the ground at random horas!" The old man roared again. "They obviously had to be planted by someone!" A few other players who were walking nearby snickered at Elm''s predicament, obviously finding it amusing. Horas was the term all residents of Horizon used for time. According to what little knowledge Elm had scrounged up from the game''s introduction, Theios, the God of the world of Horizon gave birth to a son named Horas, the God of Time. It was only after so, that the concept of time existed for the residents in Horizon. "Yes sir, I am terribly sorry." Elm apologized again while still hanging his head. The old man puffed his chest in anger, but seeing Elm''s apologetic attitude, he could not help but soften his anger. "W-well, it''s good that you understand what you did wrong. But nonetheless, you did steal from my garden!" The old man said, at least the old man seemed like he was willing to forgive him, Elm thought to himself. "Again, I''m sorry sir. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?" Elm asked politely. "H-hmm. You.. Are you sure you''re not just trying to trick me into giving you a quest? Anyway, you don''t meet my requirements.." The old man muttered. Suddenly, as if a light bulb had turned on, the old man clapped his hands and shouted. "Ah! You must be that new adventurer earlier today who had completely ignored me when you were born into this world for the first time!" Elm scratched his head apologetically. Indeed, he had noticed the old man trying to get his attention when he first came to Viajecamino, but he and his friends simply ignored him. Mae and Braveheart both thought he had done the tutorial anyway, since he took so long just to create his character, which was why they didn''t pay the old man any mind. "Since you''re new.. I guess it can''t be helped. My name is Lacus of Clayhearst. What is your name, young adventurer?" the old man introduced himself with a slight bow. "My name is Elm, Mr. Lacus." Elm replied. He was glad Lacus was willing to forgive him, as he heard from Mae, if you steal something from an NPC in any city and if you were caught stealing red-handed, it was possible for you to be arrested by the castle''s guards. If you got thrown into jail, you would not be able to do anything inside for a period of time until you served your sentence. Elm mentally breathed a sigh of relief from being acquitted. "Now, Elm.. let me tell you about Horizon." Lacus started. Almost immediately, Elm was engulfed by darkness and transported into a dark room. A light suddenly shined, and a beautiful woman materialized in front of him. She was smiling, and her eyes full of mystery captivated Elm in a flash. In a past long forgotten, a voice explained. Horizon was not always the ''world'' they had lived on. Horizon was originally an ancient deity, the deity Elm saw in front of him right now. Before the Dawn of Horizon, there were originally many deities in the universe, and they all co-existed harmoniously. There were six different factions of deities, all who belonged to six different dimensions. The Human Realm, The Beast Realm, The Elven Realm, The Plains Realm, The Half Realm, The Mountain Realm. There was never any kind of war, and each faction lived peacefully and prosperously. (A/N: "That is, until the Fire Nation attacked. xD") Horizon was a female deity who originally belonged to the Human Realm. She was the daughter of the King, and sister to Theios, our Creator. She was also among the strongest, and most powerful of deities in the Human Realm. Horizon would spend her days happily with her family, playing musical instruments, or frolicking around with her friends, with but not a single care in the world. She was beautiful, kind, benevolent, and she was loved by her people. She would jump with joy, and play from dawn to dusk. Soon, she fell in love with a deity, one of her most trusted and loved friend, and married him. However, this peace couldn''t last forever. An irregularity happened in the universe. Something the Six Realms had not seen for eons. A Seventh Realm appeared. The Demon Realm. The Six Kings of the Six Realms gathered together to travel to the Demon Realm, to find out what it exactly was, and who its residents were. After much debate, the Six Kings decided they would form an entourage of bodyguards and only they would travel into the Demon Realm. Horizon''s husband, had bravely volunteered to be part of that entourage. When it was time to leave, Horizon had a sick feeling in her chest. She had begged incessantly for her husband not to go when she found out he had volunteered, but he knew, duty and honor would not allow him to take back his word. They kissed goodbye, and the Human King, her father lead his party and her husband to join the other Six Kings. When the Six Kings arrived in the Demon Realm, what they saw was a barren wasteland. What they found there, were Demons. Which was how the Seventh Realm attained its name. However, the moment they had arrived through an opening in the Demon Realm, they were immediately greeted by seven figures cloaked in darkness. "We have come to your realm to ascertain of your.. purpose." the Elvish King immediately asked, with a condescending tone in his voice. He viewed the appearance of the Seventh Realm in contempt. The people of the Elvish Realm held themselves in high esteem compared to the other Realms because of their higher affinity for all things magic related. "Who are you and where have you monsters come from?" The Human King however, instead of being prideful, paled at the appearance of the seven figures. Their cloaks seemed to embody total darkness. Their beings seemingly able to blend into the shadows themselves. One of the cloaked figures spoke in a raspy voice, which put the nerves of all those present on edge. "You.. do not need to know of our purpose. The only thing which you must know.." the figure paused for a moment. "IS THAT THE DESTRUCTION OF THE SIX REALMS BEGINS NOW!" the cloaked figure suddenly screamed. Suddenly, all of the cloaked figures exploded into grains of black matter, and the grains slowly floated in the air to the ground. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. The Six Kings were dumbstruck. What did they mean? As Elm watched the grains of black matter slowly float to the ground, and disappear, so did his vision as well, as it gradually became dark.. *** Tttring!
You have unlocked a new title, ''A New Dawn''! You may now equip your new title.
"Character Info!" Elm called out.
Character Info
Name:ElmAllignmentNeutral
Level:1Class:None
Race:HumanGender:Male
Fame
-
Title
A New Dawn
Health:100/100Mana100/100
Strength15Dexterity15
Intelligence10Wisdom10
Vitality10Luck10
Equipment Info
Attack7-9Defence3
"This title doesn''t have any bonuses.." he stared at his status window as he equipped his new title. "Well, nothing I can do about that. At least I''ve unlocked all access to the game." Elm shrugged nonchalantly. When Elm triggered the tutorial quest from Lacus, he was instantly ported somewhere and he had to watch an introduction on Horizon that lasted half an hour in-game. It was mostly things that he already knew, but he didn''t have any choice even if he didn''t want to, it was part of the tutorial, and also the game''s story. "Okay, let''s continue the quest!" he excitedly said. He couldn''t wait to start fighting monsters.
Client: Lacus Quest: A New Dawn Pt.2 - Kill 10 Quills
After watching the tutorial video earlier, Elm had to now go and kill some Quills in the outskirts of the fields. The Quills were actually the reason why Lacus was so mad at Elm earlier, as those Quills had also been stealing and making a mess out of the numerous plantations and fields. When he saw Elm stealing a tomato, he lost it. A few other players, also new like Elm came to receive the tutorial from Lacus as well, had invited Elm to go along with them, however, he declined. "Thanks guys, but I''ll be fine on my own." he answered them simply. "You sure bro? It''ll probably be faster if we all complete the quest together." A player from the party of three said, with a begging tone in his voice. "Yeah, see you guys around!" Elm replied, trying to quickly end the conversation. He immediately turned around, equipped his dagger and left for the fields where the Quills were making a ruckus. Elm wasn''t really a sociable kind of person, but there was something about those group of players that put him on the edge and how they had suddenly arrived right after him. He was also being wary because according to the blog he was looking at earlier, there were a group of newbie players hunting people by themselves. Those group of players would mark a newbie, and when they left the ''safe zone'' to hunt the Quills for the tutorial quest, they would immediately jump upon him and PK him. Those players didn''t get anything from hunting newbies, they did it just for their own self-satisfaction. Dying also didn''t affect players at level one, as they couldn''t lose experience, and neither did they lose any of their equipment or gold. The reason for those players satisfaction were that they were sadists, they wouldn''t kill their victims immediately, and would slowly bleed them to death. The game had a ''realism'' feature set in, and it was possible to set the amount of pain you felt from hits, or cuts. It was however, quite jarring for a newbie player who had just joined Horizon to see their own hand get cut off, even if they did not feel any pain from it. It was where those group of players got their satisfaction from, seeing the shocked expression of their victims. After Elm walked away, the group of three players whom had asked Elm to join them grew an ugly look on their faces. "So what do we do now?" "I wanted to see that look of helplessness when we betray him.." "Leave him be. There''s no shortage of prey anyway, better to go after someone who''s less wary." said a man who seemed to be the smarter one among the party. They grinned at each other, and walked away as quickly as they had arrived.
Main PageChapter 5 - Battle
Chapter 5 - Battle Looking over his shoulder, he saw that the party of three who invited him earlier were gone. It didn''t seem like they were going to continue the quest. All of a sudden, he felt suspicious about their behavior. "Those three really had me on my toes.. maybe they really are the group of PKers who have been targeting newbies?" he wondered. They already had a party of three, so there was no reason why they would go back into town. "At least they aren''t following me, that would''ve been bad." The fields around Viajecamino were still classified as part of the town, it meant monsters and players alike could not fight inside the ''safe area''. However, there was a loop hole. This loop hole was the area where the Quills were. Elm didn''t have any confidence that he could take on three players together, even if they were level one like him. After all, he had just joined today with zero combat experience while if those players were actually the group of PKers, they would definitely have some experience fighting with players like him. Gripping his dagger tightly, he lightly said to himself. "I won''t let myself get taken advantage of again." Frustration surged within him and he shifted his feet uneasily. He took a deep breath, decided to forget about what he was feeling and looked back in the direction of where he was heading to earlier. "Let''s go kill some Quills." ***
You are now entering, ''Deserted Vegetable Field''.
Looking at the notification window, Elm had arrived at the place where the Quills were running rampant according to Lacus. The area was a large field surrounded with a wooden fence, with many rows of different kinds of vegetables. Elm would have picked the vegetables in a heartbeat, but unfortunately, the vegetables had already been ravaged by the Quills. Elm stared at the creatures and gave them an amused expression. There were a few other players fighting the Quills near him, so he had a closer look at them. "These Quills.. aren''t they just hedgehogs?" he said, and smirked, the side of his mouth slightly turning up. The creature was slightly shorter Elm''s knees. In the real world, this hedgehog would probably be about the same size as a household dog, which was pretty over the regular size of a normal hedgehog. It had dark beady eyes, a pointy snout and had bristly fur sticking out all around it. Giving a light laugh, Elm brandished his dagger and looked for a lone hedgehog he could fight. There were plenty of players around, but there wasn''t any shortage of Quills. It seemed that they could indefinitely spawn over time. Scanning over the area, he noticed there were quite a number of players having trouble fighting the Quills, as their dagger attacks missed their marks many times over. Many of the players were resorting to verbal abuse to vent their frustrations. "Grah! You piece of ****!" "Once my dagger lands on you, you''re dead meat, you ******!" "****!!" This was definitely a scene animal lovers or activists wouldn''t be able to stomach, Elm thought amusingly to himself. The Quills were docile creatures, they would rather munch on the vegetables in the field rather than attack people. However, once they were attacked, it was a different matter altogether. The Quill which Elm was observing, had a name and health bar above it while it was engaged in battle with a player.
Quill (Level 1)
Health: 8/30
The problem the players in the field were facing wasn''t the Quills having high damage, defense, or speed. It was their attack pattern. When the Quills were docile, they were extremely slow, however, when provoked by a player, it would proceed to roll itself into a ball which caused all of its bristly spines to point outwards and be hard. After rolling into a ball, they would then try to attack with their spines by ramming into them. Feeling rather confident that he wouldn''t make the same mistake as the other players, he immediately targeted a lone Quill who was munching on a radish near the edge of the field. "You should be proud, you little creature. For you will be my first stepping stone in this world!" Elm announced to the creature proudly, while pointing his knife at the Quill. The creature turned its black beady eyes towards him, and with its pointy snout, it seemed to snort a little. *** 5! ... "Oof!" The beginner in leather garbs wielding a dagger fell backwards somewhat hard against some half-eaten potato plants in the ground. "Well, that didn''t go as well as I thought it would be."
Quill (Level 1)
Health: 30/30
That same Quill that Elm had given a little speech to earlier unrolled itself next to him and stared at Elm''s face with its black, beady eyes. When it noticed Elm trying to get up, it hissed at him and rolled a small distance away from him, ready to attack. "I''ve been fighting this level one guy for five minutes and I can''t even scratch him." Elm was confident about his chances before he fought earlier, but however, he soon realized the most frustrating part about fighting these creatures wasn''t the high damage the Quills dealt when you were rammed into, it was the fact that you would fall over onto the dirt or vegetables in the fields. He was already covered in dirt and tomato sauce five minutes into fighting the Quills. However, this was to be expected of a game that tried to imitate reality in a virtual world. Elm understood and saw the idea that the developers were trying to instill into the players here. Having this kind of annoying tutorial quest in the beginning stage of the game meant was just like riding a bike. If you fall, get up. If you fail, try and try again. If you couldn''t deal with the monsters here, how would you deal with the other creatures that were out there? The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. The Quills would immediately roll into a ball once it detected any sign of hostility from its attacker. If its attacker made any move at all to approach it, it would immediately rush toward him and ram him. Elm experienced it firsthand and he realized that before he could even swing his dagger, the Quill would have already reached him, ramming him to the ground. After a minute, Elm was suddenly grinning. He discovered a way to kill the Quill without being damaged any further! "Pfft. You''re just a level one hedgehog, and also my stepping stone!" Elm smirked again at the Quill, finding back his confidence earlier. The creature crocked it''s snout in confusion as it stared at Elm. "Here we go!" He gave a small battle cry, and raised his dagger. Responding to his hostile action, the Quill immediately began rolling, on a collision course set towards Elm. As the Quill closed the distance, Elm had already begun his swinging motion, and while doing so, he lightly side stepped to his right.. 6! ... As the Quill rolled past Elm, he slashed it with his dagger while side stepping and cut the Quill on its bristly body. A red gash appeared on the creature''s side but instead of the red blood that was supposed to flow out, nothing came out. It was as though the inside of the body of the Quill was just red clay. After being struck by Elm''s knife. the Quill rolled to a stop, turned around in Elm''s direction again. "You little critters roll in a straight line, the minute I figured out your attack pattern, you were finished." He said triumphantly, as though he had already defeated the Quill. As if in protest, the Quill squealed in anger, and started rolling towards Elm once again. Elm imitated the same movement as earlier, only this time, he tried stabbing into the body of the Quill. 9! ... "As I thought. By stabbing with a dagger I can exert more force in my positioning, and deal more damage!" In Horizon, the combat mechanics had the same theories in real life. As long as you understood the theory behind the movement, and knew how to apply it to your own attacks, the system would naturally guide your body to deliver the attack. For example, if you tried stabbing someone with a stick instead of clubbing them with it, it would obviously deal less pain than the latter. The same principle applied in Horizon, while wielding a sharp weapon, stabbing attacks dealt more damage. While wielding a blunt weapon, crushing attacks would deal more damage. The GateArk helmet analyzed and improved the user''s thought process and applied it into action inside the game. It took years of research and development of the brain before Sakkaku, the corporation behind Horizon had managed to accomplish this. According to accomplished scientists around the world, they noted that when humans were asleep, we could actually tap into the full potential of our brain. Dreams signified the potential of our brains and what it could create. However, when people were awake, we only have access to ten percent of the full potential to our brain. With the arrival of the GateArk however, it was possible to fully tap into the remaining ninety percent of our brain as it induced the mind into a hibernating state. It was still all speculation as to whether this was all real or not, because virtual reality, although it had been around for awhile, was still in its beginning stages. 8! 9! ... With a regretful squeal, the Quill finally died, falling down on its side. Elm felt sorry for the creature, even though he knew it wasn''t real. The creature slowly disintegrated, leaving behind a patch of fur. He walked over and picked it up.
Quill''s Fur
Type:CommonDurability:N/A
Quality:Average
Fur that came from a Quill. Can be sold to a merchant''s store.
"Well, this is the first copper I''ve earned in game." He said to himself satisfyingly while gazing at the fur he was holding. He stashed it in his inventory by putting it in his pouch. All adventurers had a pouch through which they could store items, and by summoning the inventory menu, it was possible to pull out the items in your inventory. Turning around from the edge of the field where he finished off his first Quill, he wanted to finish his quest before bed. He saw a few other players who were standing somewhat near where he was fighting and they were imitating his movements, side stepping and allowing the Quill to pass through before taking a swing at them. He paid them no heed, and didn''t mind them copying him. "On to the next critter!" he excitedly shouted.
Main PageChapter 6 - Adventurer
Chapter 6 - Adventurer A/N: "Edited my previous chapters, and fixed some grammar/ sentence errors. If you see anything out of place please do point it out. Thank you!" *** 9! 8! 8! ... "Squee..." The Quill cried regretfully from its pointy snout while walking staggeringly. Any animal lover would have had their hearts broken seeing that state of the creature. It had a few holes by it''s side, and multiple cuts around its body caused by a sharp weapon. With it''s final death throe, the last quill Elm was hunting finally fell. It disintegrated and left behind another patch of fur, adding to which Elm now had ten of. It took Elm slightly more than half an hour to kill ten Quills. It took longer than he had expected, but killing ten of those hedgehogs helped him raise a level. He was now level two! "Character Info!" he called out, and the familiar window appeared. By leveling up, he now had five points he could use to distribute to any of his chosen stats.
Character Info
Name:ElmAllignmentNeutral
Level:2Class:None
Race:HumanGender:Male
Fame
-
Titles
A New Dawn
Current Unallocated Points: 5
Health:100/100Mana100/100
Strength15Dexterity15
Intelligence10Wisdom10
Vitality10Luck10
Equipment Info
Attack7-9Defence3
Elm temptingly looked at his unallocated ability points. He really wanted to allocate them immediately to see what would happen but he stopped himself before his finger tapped on the menu. He pulled his hand away from the menu and closed it by waving it away and firmly put his hands on his sides. "I''ll do it later, when I''m more certain of my chosen class." he reasoned with himself. From his past experiences from gaming, he knew he was indecisive when it came to choosing his class. Especially more so with Horizon, since you could only have one character and one account. He firmly decided to wait for later, despite the drawbacks that one could have from not allocating their stats early on. Firstly, the only cost-effective way for beginners to increase their damage was to add their status points. It was pointless to spend money on equipment early on because not only were equipment expensive, good ''beginner'' equipments were even more so as there were no shortage of new players into Horizon. Secondly, one other way to increase your damage was of course, unlocking skills and training them. But skills were kept closely in secret, only the most basic of skills were released to the public. If you unlocked a skill, it was yours, and it was up to you whether to share the methods of acquiring it. The current top players in Horizon all had their own special skills that kept them ahead of other players. "Let''s see.. I guess I could go turn in my quest now." he thought to himself. He was planning to go get some sleep and continue again with Milly and Cory the next day. He started walking slowly towards the exit of the field when all of a sudden, a new group of players walked in to the field. Elm couldn''t help but feel that their faces felt familiar somehow. "Aren''t they..?" He remembered the faces of the group of players who asked him to join their party earlier, though they now had someone new with them. "What is she doing with them?" He curiously wondered. The new addition to their party was a girl, an Elf. She had striking blonde hair and had one thing in common with most Elf female players. Well defined features and voluptuous proportions. Her most outstanding feature however, were her eyes which were as blue as the seas. The three guys in the party were jostling her, teasing and praising her good looks. The Elf girl didn''t seem to care, rather, she seemed to enjoy the attention she was getting from the trio who were dropping an excess of compliments on her. Elm paid the group no heed and decided to just walk past them towards the exit of the field. He actually didn''t want to care if the girl was PKed. It wasn''t his problem, and it would be a pain really. However, even as he walked past their lively figures, not one person from the trio recognized him. Elm gritted his teeth and stopped in his tracks. He couldn''t intentionally let something happen in front of him and not intervene. "Hey, Elf-blondie." he said through his teeth while facing his back against them. The trio and the Elf stopped laughing and turned towards him. The three male players had an ugly look on their faces when they saw Elm. "Who the heck is this guy?" One of the players from the trio immediately started. The player who had immediately spoken up was using a Halfling character, infact, there were two players amongst the trio who were Halflings. "Yeah, who the heck are you?" The other Halfling threatened Elm menacingly. The remaining player from the trio, who looked to be a Human, only kept quiet, looking back and forth between the Elf and Elm. Raising his hands up and turning around with an apologetic face, "I''m sorry misters, but I had something I needed to tell this Elf-blondie." Elm said while maintaining his calm, trying to be as polite as he could be. "Well, I don''t think she wants to talk to you, do you, Leica?" Halfling number-one said. "Yeah, Leica, you don''t want to talk to this guy right?" Halfling number-two chipped in. Both of them looked at the Elf-blondie, expecting her to deny the seemingly familiar stranger who had barged in on their wonderful conversation with ''Leica''. Meanwhile, Elm noticed the player from the trio who had been quiet from the beginning staring hard at him, he tried to shy away from his stare. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "Well.. I really don''t know you. Have we met somewhere?" the female Elf player named Leica said while biting her lip. "And I also don''t appreciate you calling me Elf-blondie." she added with a humph while putting her hands on her hips. Elm gave a slight laugh, and shifted his feet nervously. He was still trying to avoid the gaze of that Human player, something about his eyes unsettled him. It was also the same man who had asked him to join their party earlier. "Sorry.. Leica? Can I call you that?" Elm apologized and asked while smiling as gentle as he could. Leica seemed taken aback by Elm''s smile and blushed a little. Giving a shy nod of consent, Leica gave Elm the go ahead. The Halfling duo however, weren''t pleased and it was apparent on their faces. Their displeasure contorted their noses and mouths and it made them exceedingly ugly to behold. Only the Human from the trio kept his cool, maintaining his stone gaze on Elm, examining him. "Well.. for starters.." Elm started saying while scratching his head. He made a few movements with his hand and pulled out ten of his Quill''s fur. "I''d like to give you these and I want you to go turn in the quest immediately." He shoved the fur into Leica''s hands and she took it while shocked. The jaws of the Halflings dropped, immediately realizing what Elm had just given her. Suddenly, Halfling number-one grabbed the fur from Leica and threw it on the ground. Elm''s eyes became wide open and immediately tried to grab for the falling Quill''s fur, however, he was too slow and the fur hit the ground, detonating into shards and slowly disappeared. Leica stood there in a daze, still trying processing what had just happened. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!" Elm shouted angrily. It took him quite some time to gather up all those furs.. naturally, he was infuriated. An action of dropping an item to the ground from your hand was equivalent to destroying it, most players would try to be careful whenever they were holding something, however, the Halfling deliberately destroyed the Quill furs. Halfling number-two high fived his companion and suddenly, the Human player who was quiet earlier suddenly spoke up. "Aren''t you that person we tried to invite into our party earlier?" A look of understanding appeared on the Halflings faces, they understood what the Human player was saying. "What are you trying to do by giving one of our party members the quest items?" he menacingly asked, there was a glint of wildness in his eyes. Elm shuddered when he met his gaze. Hearing what the Human player had just said, Leica suddenly came to her senses, walking by to his side. "It''s okay Blaze, I would''ve refused the Quill fur anyway!" she said while holding on to his arm with a pleading expression on her face. "Besides, I already promised that I would hunt with your party wouldn''t I?" Blaze was the name of the Human player, and much like his name, he had fiery red spiky hair. His eyes were the color of a flame, with red as its base, and a tinge of yellow along a little bit of orange shading it. It was one of those custom eyes that Sakkaku, the corporation that created Horizon, had sold as a cosmetics item to the players. It was probably worth about a hundred dollars. Someone like Elm definitely couldn''t afford it. Blaze turned his head to look at Leica affectionately, and lightly brushed her hands off. "I appreciate that Leica, but I have to teach this guy a lesson." he replied simply while looking at her, making sure that Elm heared his voice as well. Elm gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, he had probably wanted to do that since the beginning when he asked him to join their party, he thought. With this, his suspicions were affirmed that these three were probably the PKers that had been targeting newbies. "Yeah, teach him a lesson!" Halfling-number-one shouted. "Yeah Blaze, teach him a lesson!" Halfling number-two chipped in. "Be quiet Wes and Trev!" Blaze shouted at the Halflings. Immediately, a sullen look appeared on their faces and they stopped cheering. Blaze stared at Elm, and gave a hand signal towards the Halflings. Leica bit her lip, suddenly realizing what was going to happen to Elm. How did this even happen? She thought to herself. She had just joined Horizon not more than half an hour ago, and upon reaching Viajecamino earlier, the trio had taken it upon themselves to guide her to Lacus where the tutorial NPC was. Even though the trio were especially graceful towards her, she paid it no mind and chalked it up as a treatment most female Elves would get. Leica knew she was attractive in real life as well, and there were many times she used it to get what she wanted, be it friends or material things. "Hey baby, could you get me that necklace?" "I don''t really know how to complete this assignment, could you help me with it?" "I don''t think I''m cute at all." Those were what she usually had to do to get by, though now, she was caught in some argument between these people she had never even met before. She shrugged, and just stood silently, waiting to see what would happen. Elm stood frozen in his original spot, staring at the trio. He knew they wanted to kill him, and he was nervous from top to toe. He could feel sweat gathering in the folds of his body as well as his forehead. "You''re dead meat, newbie." Blaze said while grinning. He equipped his beginner''s dagger, pulling it out from it''s holster that was strapped with garb''s belt. Brandishing it towards Elm, Blaze motioned for his two Halflings to do the same. Wes and Trev both grinned and both also equipped their daggers. "Leica, you can stay back. We''ll handle this." Blaze said to her. Suddenly, Elm opened his Character Info window with a shout and immediately began to allocate his ability points. "If I''m gonna stand any chance against these three.. I have to add all my points into Strength." He painstakingly thought. "I guess I can''t really be a Mage now." Realizing what he was doing, Blaze immediately roared, "GET HIM! He''s adding his stats!" The Halfling duo immediately charged at Elm, with daggers raised up to their chests. They were going to ram their daggers straight into his chest. However, this movement was similar to the hedgehogs Elm had just fought earlier. He instinctively sidestepped the duo and let them pass him. He then equipped his dagger, and suddenly found himself standing in between the duo and Blaze. Blaze gave a loud laugh looking at Elm''s pointless struggle. "Not bad, you dodged the first strike. But now that you''re stuck between us, how are you going to dodge now?" he sneered at him. Elm laughed nervously. He knew he was in a sticky situation, going up against three people. "I''m an Adventurer, I''ll manage somehow."
Main PageChapter 7 - Attitude
Chapter 7 - Attitude A/N: "I''ll be alternating between Evans and Elm in this chapter, hope no one gets confused!" *** Elm laughed nervously. Stuck in a really sticky situation, he really didn''t know what he could do. "On a second thought, maybe you guys want to be friends instead?" he suggested meekly. "Don''t be stupid, you''re going to die." Blaze sneered in reply. His fiery eyes seemed to be filled with glee at the aspect of another player dying by his hands. "Yeah! You''re going to die!" Halfling number-one shouted. "Die! Die!" Halfling number-two added in while waving his dagger in the air. Elm took a deep breath. There was no escaping this situation, it was make it or break it, and he certainly didn''t want to break it. Dying in Horizon made your level go down by one, and your skill mastery would also take a hit! Elm didn''t have any skills at the moment but he didn''t want his level to go down. Elm alternately stared between Blaze and the Halfling duo, waiting for them to make a move. The situation was so tense that the players who were hunting Quills in the field walked over to see what the ruckus was about. They chattered amongst themselves, some even placing bets to see who would win. "I bet my copper coins on the black haired guy!" one guy said earnestly. "You''re stupid, obviously the guy with that hundred dollar cosmetics is going to win." another person said in reply, and bet his coins as well. "Are those three ganging up on him?" someone else asked his friend, but didn''t do anything. It seemed to be that he was only interested in what was happening. No one bothered to help Elm, they treated this as some kind of side event. Elm gritted his teeth, so this was human nature? He already started regretting wanting to help out Leica. He stole a glance at her, and saw that she was just casually standing around, watching the fight go on. She apparently had zero interest in participating in the fight or helping Elm. "So much for trying to be a nice guy." He thought grudgingly to himself. Ever since he was a kid, Evans had been the guy who just couldn''t leave someone who was in trouble alone. It all began from the time when his parents had their first divorce. His parents had been out of work, and they couldn''t help but find themselves arguing over money problems. There was a lack of jobs in the city they were living in, especially in the line of what his father did. Evans'' father had been a doctor previously, but he wasn''t a fairly known one. He had been working in a small clinic near the house they were currently living in and life had been moving smoothly for them, but only for a while. It was not only until the Year 21XX that a new wave of technology came. With it, there were new capsule machines invented that were named as the LifePod. The LifePod had two functions, diagnose, and treatment. It was invented as a way for the general populace to be able to afford cheaper healthcare methods. The government licensed it and soon, mass production of the LifePod machines began. Of course, when it first appeared, people were skeptical of it and didn''t think it would be able to compare with actual doctors. Over time, more and more people began using the LifePod because of its cheaper cost, and it was in a lot of cases more accurate than a regular doctor''s diagnosis. The popularity of the LifePod machines rose, and more and more clinics began to adapt to the LifePod machines. Even Evans father''s clinic soon got rid of him, as they had acquired their own LifePod machine and they didn''t need him anymore. He was out of work, and he struggled to find some other job that he could do, but during the period where he had just lost his job, he couldn''t adapt to his new situation. He was stuck in disbelief, disbelief that machine replaced man. It was just like how some people in the past feared when planes were fitted with the auto-pilot function. Pilots didn''t lose their jobs, however, as they were also hired as on-board technicians. Of course, larger clinics and healthcare centres such as hospitals and the likes still hired doctors. But only medical specialists would be able to find jobs in hospitals, those that had selected a field they were devoted to. A general doctor like Evans'' father wasn''t exactly sought after. As for Evans'' mother, she was a housewife. The only work she would do were part time jobs that she could find near her home as she had to take care of Evans. Part-time jobs that she did include waitressing, cleaning, or sometimes the odd catering for their neighbours. The day that his parents were going to file for a divorce, Evans was outside their home playing by the roadside after school. He couldn''t stand the arguments his parents had, and he was sick of crying. That was why usually after school, Evans would play by himself along the way home. Although he was only six at the time, the stage of his mentality was already above his peers at school. Evans was poking an active ant hill that had been built in the field beside the road with a stick. He found it amusing to see the numerous ants scurrying about and panicking as he poked the ant hill. Suddenly, he cocked his head up. Staring at the road infront of him, he noticed a girl from his class at school walking in the middle of the road alone. The girl had long brown hair, and it flowed in the wind as she scurried along the road. "Hey Milly!" he called out, suddenly interested in what she was doing. The girl, suddenly heared him shout, was startled. Walking up to him, the first thing Evans noticed were her slightly red, and puffy eyes. "H-h-hi Evans." Her breath was shaky, and she stuttered while talking to him. "What''s wrong?" Evans asked calmly with a soothing tone. He was pretty used to this, Milly cried in school a lot because she always always bullied by the other kids for being short. It turns out she lost her bear after coming home from school. Thinking that she must''ve dropped it while walking home from school, she ran along the road looking for it. "I''ll help you look for it, don''t worry okay?" He said and then beamed at her. Smiling while showing all his teeth. He dropped the stick he was holding that he used to poke the ant hill with and immediately took Milly''s hand. "Let''s go!" Milly''s eyes filled with delight, Evans had always helped her solve the problems she thought were impossible. Ten minutes later, they found her bear sticking its leg out of some leaves in a tall bushy Elm tree by the roadside. Obviously, someone had thrown it up there on purpose. "What do.. we do?" Milly said, tears already starting to form in her eyes again. She stared up at the tree, craning her neck. "Maybe we could use a stick or something.. or climb?" Evans wondered aloud. He glanced around, but he couldn''t find a stick that was long enough to poke the bear out of the tree. "Well, I guess I''ll climb the tree and come back down quickly.." he murmured to himself. "But.. the tree''s so tall. You could hurt yourself!" she replied in shock, hearing what Evans had said softly. After that, despite Milly''s protests, Evans climbed the tree anyway. He managed to climb half the way up the tall Elm tree before he slipped a little, and Milly gasped in fright. She held her breath in anticipation, seeing Elm''s grin despite the little slip up, as he continued to climb all the way up into the branches. Finally reaching a thick branch, Evans grabbed onto it, and hauled himself up to sit on it. He looked down at Milly, and saw her hugging herself in fear of him falling down. He grinned again, and looking away from Milly, he began to search for the bear. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. "It should be around.. here!" he exclaimed after seeing a little bit of its head sticking out of the leaves in the tree. It was lodged a little ways higher from where Evans was sitting, and he had to stand on the branch just to reach it. "Just a little.. bit more." He stretched out his hand to the outmost while licking his lips. "Got it!" He exclaimed again just as he managed to touch the bear. He pulled on it with his two fingers, and suddenly, Evans felt his foothold give way with a loud crack. He heard a scream, and it was the last thing he heard before he lost consciousness. *** "Ugh.." Evans slowly said as he opened his eyes. His hand slowly rose up to touch his forehead. He had a wet cloth on his forehead and when he took it off, he felt there was a large bump below the cloth. "Oww.." Evans was surrounded by a familiar bedsheet that had the face of a cartoon character he liked on it, he looked around the room and recognized it immediately. "I''m back in my room?" he thought puzzledly to himself. "I remember grabbing Milly''s bear.. and then.." Suddenly, Evans felt a chill up his spine. He suddenly felt afraid. "And then everything went dark? Did I fall asleep?" he wondered, brushing away that feeling of fear. His room door opened and his mother walked in, holding another wet cloth. Seeing him awake, his mother went wide-eyed and immediately rushed to his side and grabbed his hand. "Are you okay dear? Does it hurt anywhere? How''s your head?" She asked, with worry in her voice. "My head hurts a little.. but I''m okay." Evans replied. "Evans! He''s awake!" his mother shouted for Evans dad. Evans had the same name as his father. He was Evans Segal Jr. while his dad was Evans Segal. His mother would call him ''dear'' or ''son'', she had never called Evans by his name. Suddenly, running footsteps could be heard coming towards Evans'' door, and a few moments later, a man appeared inside Evans'' room. He also grew wide-eyed, seeing Evans awake. The man immediately came to a kneeling position just beside Evans'' mother, and also took hold of his hand, along with his mother''s hand. "Are you okay son? Does it hurt anywhere?" Evans'' father had asked the same question his mother did. They were both worried about him. "I''m okay daddy." He replied. "My head just hurts a little." Suddenly, Evans noticed something. "Daddy, you''re holding mummy''s hand!" He suddenly exclaimed and smiled at his parents. His mother and father looked at each other, and they both started laughing. That day, they decided to call off their divorce, and Milly got her bear back. *** "If I''m gonna die here, I might as well die trying!" Elm gave a battle-cry, deciding to tackle Blaze first, since he was alone. He swung his dagger in a circular motion, trying to catch him off-guard. However, Blaze anticipated the attack since he was watching Elm''s movement closely. Elm tried cutting Blaze again, but he avoided his attack, almost toying with Elm. Miss! Miss! Two miss signs appeared atop Blaze''s head. Snickering at Elm''s missed attacks, Blaze said. "C''mon, is this all you got?" The man was clearly having fun messing with Elm. The other players began murmuring among themselves about how bad Elm was, or how sadistic Blaze was. Though none of them bothered to try to help Elm out. Suddenly, as Elm was focused on trying to hit Blaze with his dagger, something pricked his back from behind. It was a stab from the Halfling duo! Critical Hit! 13! Elm turned around angrily. It was his first time getting stabbed by another player and it didn''t feel very nice. It wasn''t that painful but it still felt uncomfortable. It was just like getting stabbed with a metal pipe. The Halflings cheered at the critical hit they had just scored, a few more of those and Elm''s health would''ve been at the bottom. He swung his dagger at the duo, trying to create some distance between them. Being stuck in the middle of three players was certainly difficult to go up against. "Fight me one on one you cowards!" Elm cried helplessly. His dagger attacks weren''t landing because he had to maintain his focus on three people. If he focused on just one person, the other two would immediately move to strike him. The trio snickered and said nothing, and continued their ''baptism'' on Elm. Soon enough, Elm''s health whittled away from their attacks and it reached zero. There were multiple cuts on Elm''s body, and his body disintegrated starting from his feet. Elm''s face contorted in horror seeing his body slowly disappear, and the trio gave loud laughs seeing his face. "Hope you''ll learn not to mess with us." Blaze snickered, and mockingly gave him a farewell salute. Elm''s vision turned into darkness and all he could see in the dark were two notification windows. He didn''t feel anything other than inexplicable embarrassment.
You have died! As you have died in a Beginner Field Zone, you have not incurred any penalties.
Origin Crystal has not been selected. Respawning in city of origin in 10..9..8..
Elm felt a grudge growing inside him. Against Blaze. Against those stupid Halflings. Against that freaking Elf-blondie. Against all the bloody players who were watching and laughing at his predicament. Elm stared at the window as he listened to the sound of slow ticking, each one seemed slower than the one before, until he made a decision. He was just going to forget about it. It would be a pain anyway. *** A/N: "For future reference, I will not be using Evans'' dad''s name when they''re having a conversation. I will just refer to him as Evans'' father."
Main PageChapter 8 - Amazing
Chapter 8 - Amazing A/N:"The storyline will be coming into play in the next few chapters! Hope you guys haven''t found this story boring yet. :) Also, my classes just started this week, so I might be updating once or twice a week from now on." ***
You have revived in ''Viajecamino''.
Elm waved the notification window away from his face. Looking around his surroundings, he was in another part of Viajecamino. Since he didn''t set a resurrection point, Elm revived at Viajecamino''s Origin crystal by default. Elm stared at the Origin crystal. The crystal hovered in midair just about a meter above the ground, and it looked very much like a jewel, only much bigger in size and it had a deep blue colour. In Horizon, Origin crystals were like your save point. If you died, you would resurrect there, and every major town or city had one. There might even be an Origin crystal in a dungeon, or an open field. If a player owned a village, or a town, it was possible to purchase also purchase an Origin crystal to be placed in your town. However, it was extremely costly to own one, and so far no players had owned a village as of yet. Now even though Elm had decided to forget about his grudge with Blaze, it didn''t mean that he forgave him. Right now, he would focus on trying to get stronger so something like that wouldn''t happen to him again. His first dying experience was unpleasant, sure, but nothing he couldn''t live without. He didn''t incur any penalties for dying, and all it did to him was send him back to the city. Elm could now go back to Lacus and complete the quest anyway, so the PK on him actually worked out to his advantage. Earlier he did give the Quills fur to Leica, but Elm didn''t need it to complete Lacus''s request. All he had to do was fulfill the kill count and that was it. However, Quills fur could also be used to complete the quest without having to kill any Quills. There were quite a few players who could be seen selling Quills fur near Lacus, as there were a lot of players who didn''t really want to spend time to fight the annoying hedgehogs. One unmistaken fact was that strength was power in this world, and Elm knew it. Levels showed how much of that power you had. It was the concept in the real world as well, if you had money, you had power. If he died in Horizon, he wasn''t going to blame anybody really, it just showed what he was lacking. It could be counted as one of Elm''s good points, he didn''t dwell on what he lost, he would dwell on what he needed. Once he acquired what he needed, he could do what he want. "So my first step is to get to level twenty, and get my class change." he thought to himself. "It''s a shame that I already invested five points into the Strength attribute.. Now I probably can''t be a Mage." From Elm''s experience in most games, Mages were a class who had very specific requirements. Since their spells consumed mostly Mana, a player would have to increase their magical prowess by increasing the relevant stats. Though they were weak, Elm revelled in the idea of firing powerful spells from a far and demolishing monsters. It seemed perfect. It had finesse. They are able to deal out terrifying, awe-inspiring levels of damage at range, while taking little in return. Mages had command over the elements, summoning raging fireballs and chains of the coldest ice to wreak havoc over the ranks of their enemies. He could only control a Mage using a mouse and keyboard before, and now in Horizon, he could actually chant and cast spells by himself! "Well, it isn''t only Mages who have spells.. there are probably other classes that utilize spells as well." In another game Elm played, there were classes that also utilized both physical and magical powers. One such example were Paladins. Paladins could wield swords and shields, and also use Holy magic, which was effective against spirit-type monsters and demons. In Horizon, Elm read about a hidden class called Spellslinger. The class utilized a handgun type bow and the player was able to attack with elemental powers. The class was publicized a week after it was found, and there were many other players who became Spellslingers because of its ability to adapt to different situations. No doubt, that in Horizon, there were definitely plenty of hidden classes just waiting to be found. The game wasn''t very old after all, and the highest player level known was currently around the seventies. "Okay, enough contemplating. I''m gonna go turn in the quest." he thought to himself. It was currently night time in Viajecamino as Elm walked through the town, and a lot of NPCs had gone indoors. They were just like regular people. General stores run by NPC wouldn''t be open until the next day, and even quest NPCs wouldn''t be around. Every NPC still had a specific algorithm that they followed, as well as where they would go, what their daily activities were, and so on and so forth. Their ''self awareness'' only reached a certain point. This was to ensure that the game would progress in its daily activities as it was supposed to. *** Elm found Lacus in the square where the blue round altar was, and quickly informed him that he was done with the quest. With a relieved and grateful expression, Lacus presented Elm with his reward, holding up three bottles that held murky red liquid within them. Health potions! Elm''s eyes lit up with greed. In any game, health potions were indispensable if you did not have a healer in your party. They weren''t cheap however. A ''Minor Health Potion'' cost 50 coppers each at an NPC store! Better potions were even more so expensive, a ''Great Health Potion'' was sold at the NPC store for 10 gold each! You could buy them from users who usually sold them for cheaper, but if you drank potions like it was water, pretty soon you''d be broke. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. "Thank you, Elm." Ttttring!
Notice! You have completed ''A New Dawn Pt2''! + 50 exp + 10 copper + 3 Minor Health Potions
"I still have something for you to do, will you listen?" Lacus asked after Elm stashed the health potions into his inventory gleefully. "Yes Mr. Lacus, I can definitely help!" Elm replied enthusiastically. "H-hmm." A little caught off by his enthusiasm, Lacus coughed while nodded approvingly. "Now Elm, you''ve managed to successfully defeat those pesky Quills," Lacus said before pausing for a moment. "However! You are not a full fledged adventurer yet. I recommend that you learn basic survival skills so that you can survive outside of town." he continued, with a stern tone in his voice. "Even if you possess the strength to move boulders and break rocks, it means nothing if you cannot extract the precious minerals from them." "If you cannot find those minerals, how then will you be able to possess a weapon that is worthy of felling demons with your strength?" "And also! Possessing a powerful weapon and being able to slay any monster means nothing if you fight on an empty stomach!" Elm''s eyes shone as he listened to Lacus. This was precisely what he wanted to learn as he was eating in the tavern with his friends earlier. Cooking was definitely an indispensable skill when you were out in the wilderness, learning how to forage for herbs and ingredients for cooking was also the same. If you wanted to create your own powerful weapon, you''d have to get special materials for them from deep in the wilderness as well.
Notice! Lacus ''A New Dawn Pt3''. Successfully learn all the skills listed from their respective instructors. Cooking [ ] Mining [ ] Foraging [ ] Accept? Y / N
"Yes, I''ll accept the quest." Elm replied and closed the quest window. He could check up on the progress of the quest whenever he wanted by opening up the quest window again as he fulfilled the requirements. "Good, good. Now, you will have to go look for the instructors yourself." Lacus nodded, satisfied after finishing his explanation. "It won''t be easy, but I know you can persevere." He further encouraged Elm. "Thank you Mr. Lacus!" Elm replied and he turned around to leave the square. Actually, Elm already knew where the instructors would be. The Cooking instructor should be in the kitchen of one of the restaurants in Viajecamino, the Mining instructor would be at the town''s smithy. And the Foraging instructor would be in one of the fields located just outside Viajecamino. Thinking that it would take a little time for himself to finish the quests, Elm glanced at the clock, it was still only around 10:00pm. "I''ll just play a little more before I logout." he grinned with the sides of his mouth turning up. He was already hooked on Reach Your Horizon. Whenever Elm played a game, if he was hooked, he would always tell himself. "Just a little more!" But before he realized it, a few hours would have already passed. Naturally, he was enjoying himself so much he didn''t even notice the passage of time. It was also one of the reasons why his grades weren''t as good as it could be, but he still did keep his responsibilities in check. He would finish his homework, and at least study for his exams. But Elm was one of the many people in the world who loved gaming from the bottom of their hearts! Once you put him in a game like Reach Your Horizon, it would be hard to pull him out of it. Like a drug, he was already addicted. Elm suddenly felt an urge to run through the streets of Viajecamino. It was exhilarating to be in a fantasy world such as this, where he could forget all about real life, and fight for his standing in the world! Other players stared at him, some laughing and snickering. Though most of them could understand what he was feeling right now. They too, had that same face Elm was making when they first logged into this game! "I''m going to fight!" he declared with his fist shaking in the air while smiling broadly as he ran through Viajecamino, heading towards his first instructor. "I''M GOING TO BE AMAZING!" he screamed, attracting the attention and condescending looks of more other players who were also in Viajecamino like Elm was. However, Elm didn''t even care. He didn''t even notice them. Elm''s running figure slowly disappeared from the field of vision of the players, and they gradually went back to what they were doing. ***
Main PageChapter 9